Mets Minor League Notebook - May 25th

Patrick Teale

05/25/2004

Victor Diaz enters Norfolk's series with Rochester red hot; Angel Pagan is one of the hottest Mets' prospects as Binghamton shuts out Portland Monday; Corey Ragsdale extends his hitting streak in St. Lucie's extra-inning loss; and Lastings Milledge picks up his first three-hit game of his career as the Bombers crush Charelston-SC Monday. All this and much more in Tuesday's edition of the Mets Minor League Notebook. (Free Preview of Premium Content)

Norfolk Tides: Monday's game between the Tides and the Buffalo Bisons was postponed and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Saturday, May 29th in Norfolk. Norfolk (19-22) has lost two straight to Buffalo after winning the opening game of the series 8-4 on Friday and are all alone in last place in the South Division of the International League. The Tides head to Rochester Tuesday to open up a four-game set against the Red Wings before heading home for the holiday weekend. RF Victor Diaz enters the series swinging a hot stick, hitting safely in eight of his last nine games...hitting .389 during that stretch. Diaz has a streak of five straight games with at least one RBI and has scored at least one run per game in five of his last six games played. While Diaz has been hot, Brazell has not. 1B Craig Brazell has just three RBI in his last 12 games, hitting .188 during that stretch with just one extra-base hit.

Binghamton Mets: The BMets opened up a three-game series against the Portland Sea Dogs with a 7-0 shutout before they head home for a 7-game home stand, starting with a four-game series against Trenton on Friday. RHP Joselo Diaz and RHP Kenneth Chenard combined on a four-hit shutout of the Sea Dogs. Diaz (3-1) allowed just two hits and four walks in five innings Monday to pick up his second straight winning decision. He has dropped his season ERA over one full point in his last four starts, allowing just four earned runs on ten hits in his last 19 1/3 innings pitched. Chenard, who had allowed 12 earned runs in his previous 6 2/3 innings, allowed just two hits and three walks in four shutout innings to earn his second save of the season.

Angel Pagan: Hitting .384 in his last 18 games.

3B David Wright paced Binghamton's 11-hit attack with a three-hit night of his own. Wright (3-4, Run, RBI) had two more doubles Monday, giving him 19 this season and his third three-hit game of the year (Wright has two 4-hit games this season). LF Angel Pagan (3-5, RBI, Run, SB) remains one of the hottest hitters in the entire Eastern League, collecting his third three-hit game in his last five games played. In his last 18 games, Pagan has a multi-hit game in 11 of those games, hitting .384 during that stretch with 14 RBI. C Justin Huber (1-4) extended his current hitting streak to seven games Monday and has now hit safely in 11 of his last 12 games. Not everyone is doing well lately. DH Ronald Acuna (0-5) is hitting just .091 in his last eight games.

St. Lucie Mets: After taking the lead in top of the 10th inning Monday, Tim McNab and the St. Lucie Mets could not hold on as the Clearwater Phillies rallied for two runs in the bottom of the 10th to take a 4-3 win. McNab (0-2) allowed two runs in 1 2/3 innings, pitching a scoreless ninth, entered Monday's game allowing just one earned run in his previous four appearances. RHP Robert Paulk had a solid start in the loss, allowing just two earned runs on three hits in 5 2/3 innings. Paulk entered Monday's start allowing 37 hits in his previous 24 innnings pitched. RHP Luz Portobanco pitched one inning of scoreless relief and has now allowed just two earned runs in his last 14 2/3 innings.

DH Brett Harper and 1B Jay Caligiuri each chipped in with solo home runs, going back-to-back in the seventh inning. Harper (1-4, HR, RBI), who had his streak of reaching base safely in 40 straight games snapped on Sunday, has one home run in three of his last five games. Caligiuri (1-4, HR, RBI), who had 7 home runs in his first 15 games played this season, hit his first home run in his last ten games. He's hitting .179 in his last nine games. SS Corey Ragsdale (1-5) extended his current hitting streak to ten games in the loss. His previous high was a five-game hit streak back in April. "Rags" is hitting .345 during his hit streak with nine runs scored. 3B Aaron Baldiris (0-4), who has just two extra-base hits in his last 25 games, is hitting .189 during this stretch with just 6 RBI!

Capital City Bombers: Capital City pounded out 16 hits in a 12-5 drubbing of Charleston-SC Monday to pull within 1.5 games of them for first place in the Southern Division of the South Atlantic League. CF Lastings Milledge (3-5, 3 RBI) and 1B Tyler Davidson (3-5, 2 RBI) each chipped in with two doubles in the victory. It was Milledge's first three-hit game of his career and has six RBI and seven runs scored in his first six games for the Bombers this season. Davidson, hitting just .155 with three extra-base hits in previous 20 games, has put together a modest four-game hit streak...his longest hit streak since opening the season with an eight-game hit streak. SS Wilson Batista (2-5, 3 Runs) continues to be a force atop the Bombers' lineup. He has four multi-hit games in his last five games played and continually puts the ball in play, striking out just two times in his last 39 at-bats. 3B Shawn Bowman (2-3, RBI) collected his fourth multi-hit game in his last six games played, extending his hitting streak to six games. Bowman is hitting .500 with two home runs and seven RBI during his streak.

LHP Evan MacLane allowed just one run on three hits, walking none and striking out six batters in five innings to earn his second victory of the season. MacLane has given up just three earned runs in his last 14 2/3 innings pitched, walking just two batters and striking out eleven. RHP Domingo Acosta pitched three scoreless innings to earn his fifth save of the season. Acosta has been brilliant out of the bullpen, allowing just two earned runs in his last 15 1/3 innings pitched. On the flip side, Matthew Miramontes continues to struggle to get anybody out. Miramontes allowed four earned runs on three hits and two walks in his one inning of work Monday. In his last three appearances (spanning three innings), he has given up a whopping 16 earned runs on ten hits and twelve walks!!!

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